Pictures of the missing Chinese tennis star Peng Shui have been published online

BEIJING – A Chinese state TV employee has posted pictures of the missing tennis star Peng Shua online in an attempt to dispel worries about his disappearance after he accused the senior executive of sexual harassment.

The photos appeared on Twitter on Twitter, which most Chinese internet users don’t see. State television employee Shen Shiwei wrote that she was in Peng’s account on the WeChat messaging service with the comment “Happy weekend.”

The ruling Communist Party faces increasing appeals from tennis stars and the professional tour of the sport to prove that Peng, a three-time Olympic champion and former number one player in the doubles, is safe and lets her speak freely.

Meanwhile, a newspaper reporter said the party said Peng would “block the public” soon.

The controversy is politically awkward as the Chinese capital prepares to hold the Winter Olympics in February. A Foreign Ministry spokesman denied on Friday that he was aware of the uproar over Peng’s disappearance.

Peng, 35, has not been seen in public since he released a statement on social media this month accusing Zhang Gaol, a former member of the party’s standing committee, of forcing insiders of power to reign despite repeated refusals to have sex.

Shen works for CGTN, the English-language division of China Talk Television, aimed at foreign audiences. His Twitter message came after the CGTN shared a statement from Peng this week that rebutted allegations against Zhang.

A reporter for the Global Times newspaper, an English-language newspaper published by the Communist Party, said on Twitter that it had confirmed from unknown sources that the images “are indeed the current state of Peng Shua.”

“In the last few days, he stayed in his own home freely, and he did not want to be disturbed,” wrote reporter Hu Xijin. “He will perform in public and participate in some activities soon.”

In the photos, Pengi had a gray cat and was holding a panda character in a private home with stuffed animals behind him. There was no information on when the pictures were taken.

Steve Simon, president and CEO of the Women’s Tennis Association, questioned the legitimacy of the statement released by the CGTN on Wednesday. Simon said it “just raises my concern for his safety.”